Our recent project, ‘Garden Lab Whispers Grow‘ explored how new sensor technology can be combined with local, embodied and non-human knowledge to further climate action. After several workshops and collaborative experiments in Summer/Autumn 2023, we ended up creating new prototypes for mud battery beds, robot snail cameras, and accessible macroscopes!
Read more about our initial experiments here and read about how this developed into DIY accessible green tech prototypes here.
Below is a video summarising the whole project:
We celebrated our findings in an exhibition at Knowle West Media Centre in November 2023. We encouraged everyone to use this space as a ‘living laboratory’, inviting people to add their ideas, get hands-on with our prototypes, and create their own mud batteries:
Special thanks to all of our amazing collaborators, including: Wales-based DIY tech artist Paul Granjon, accessibility advocate/disabled designer Ruth Hennell, local green groups, and local disabled creatives Oliver Woods and Daisy Hvnter. Daisy created three digital collages capturing the story of the project. Each of these artworks were UV printed onto chipboard over at KWMC The Factory, then featured in the exhibition:
Huge thank you to everyone who has supported these projects over the past several months: local gardeners/green spaces, change makers, artists, ecologists, Knowle West Alliance and as always, the people of Knowle West.
Special thanks to Bristol + Bath Creative R+D for funding Garden Lab Whispers Grow through Grounding Technologies, which supported six projects to investigate how creative tech might support climate action. Check out all the other inspiring Grounding Technologies projects here.
This project ran alongside Collect to Connect which similarly explored nature connectedness in Knowle West’s green spaces as well as how to make green spaces more accessible for humans and other-than-humans (living creatures, plants, organisms). Read more about Collect to Connect here.
We are excited to continue this work through future projects, all driving towards our goal of creating thriving neighbourhoods and thriving green spaces through arts, tech and care.
A community festival is coming to Knowle West - and it will support everyone to become more active, whatever their age...
Read more
